Why "things to do in [your town]" is the most valuable page on your site
“Things to do in Moab” gets searched tens of thousands of times every month. “Things to do in Gatlinburg” pulls even more. Every tourist town in the country has a version of this query, and the numbers are big.
If you run an outdoor recreation business and you don’t have a things to do page optimized for SEO in your local area, you’re handing that traffic to TripAdvisor, the local chamber of commerce, and travel bloggers who’ve never set foot on your river. A things to do page for a local business isn’t just a nice content piece. It’s probably the highest-volume search term connected to your location, and it’s one you can actually compete for.
The search volume behind “things to do” queries
Almost every destination query starts here. Someone books a cabin in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, and immediately Googles “things to do in Broken Bow.” A family plans a long weekend in Lake Tahoe. First search: “things to do in Lake Tahoe with kids.” A couple picks Asheville for an anniversary trip. They’re typing “best things to do in Asheville” before they’ve even booked the hotel.
These searches happen at the start of the trip-planning process, right when people are deciding how to spend their time and money. The volume is real: mid-size tourist towns pull 10,000 to 30,000 monthly searches for their “things to do” query. Larger destinations hit six figures. Even small towns with a seasonal draw see a few thousand searches per month during peak planning windows.
And here’s what matters for you: the person searching “things to do in Whitefish, Montana” is exactly the person who might book a guided fly fishing trip, a whitewater rafting half-day, or a mountain bike tour. They haven’t decided what to do yet. They’re open to being sold.
Why outfitters can beat the big sites
You’d think TripAdvisor and Yelp would own these results permanently. They do rank, but there’s a gap. Their “things to do” pages are generic aggregations. User-submitted lists. Thin descriptions copied from business profiles. Google can tell the difference between a scraped list and a local guide written by someone who actually operates in the area.
Outfitters and local operators have a real advantage here: you know the place. You know that the best half-day in Moab is morning on the Colorado River followed by lunch at Milt’s. You know that in Gatlinburg, the Arts and Crafts Community is worth the drive and the Ripley’s stuff is skippable unless you’ve got kids under ten. That specificity is what Google rewards and what readers actually want.
A well-built things to do page from a local operator can rank on page one alongside the aggregators. We’ve seen it happen in towns across the country. The key is structure, depth, and real local knowledge, not trying to out-aggregate the aggregators.
How to structure the page so it ranks
A things to do page that ranks isn’t a bulleted list of attractions with one-line descriptions. It’s a genuine area guide that keeps people on the page.
Start with the activities, not the restaurants or shops. Lead with the outdoor experiences, then broaden to other options. If you’re a rafting company in New River Gorge, your page might cover: whitewater rafting (your trips, naturally), rock climbing, hiking the Long Point Trail, mountain biking at Arrowhead Trails, fishing on the New River, visiting the Canyon Rim Visitor Center, and then restaurants and lodging.
Give each activity two to three paragraphs. Enough detail to be actually useful. Include specifics: which trail, how long it takes, who it’s best for, what time of year. This is what separates your page from the chamber of commerce list that says “Hiking: Enjoy our beautiful trails!”
Use your own photos where possible. Real photos from real trips carry more weight with readers and with Google than stock images.
Internal links are critical here. Your things to do page should link to your specific trip guides and activity pages. “Whitewater rafting” links to your rafting trip page. “Fly fishing” links to your guided fishing page. This turns an informational page into a booking funnel. The reader comes in looking for ideas and clicks through to your product pages.
Turn it into a booking funnel, not just an info page
The mistake most operators make with a things to do page is treating it as pure information. It should be informational, but every section should have a natural path back to your services.
You’re not being pushy. You’re being helpful. If someone’s reading your section on whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River, a line that says “We run half-day and full-day guided trips on the Ocoee from April through October” with a link to your booking page is exactly what that reader wants. They’re planning a trip. You’re offering to solve their problem.
The page should also mention seasonal timing. “The best time to visit for whitewater is May through September when water levels are highest” does two things: it answers a question the reader has, and it sets up a natural link to your best time to visit content or seasonal activity pages.
Include a section at the end with a two- or three-day sample itinerary. “Day one: morning rafting trip, afternoon hike to Long Point, dinner at Pies & Pints. Day two: rock climbing in the morning, Bridge Walk in the afternoon.” This keeps people on the page longer (which Google tracks) and puts your business at the center of their visit.
On-page SEO that makes a difference
Your primary keyword goes in the title tag, the H1, and the first paragraph: “Things to do in [Your Town].” Don’t overthink this. Match the search query.
Write a meta description under 160 characters that includes the location and hints at the depth of the page. Something like “The local guide to things to do in Broken Bow: outdoor activities, dining, and day-by-day itineraries from the people who live here.”
Use H2 headers for each major activity or category. “Whitewater rafting on the New River,” “Hiking trails near New River Gorge,” “Where to eat after your trip.” These headers can rank independently for long-tail queries.
Add schema markup if you can. LocalBusiness and TouristAttraction schema help Google understand what the page is about and can get you enhanced search results.
One thing people overlook: update the page at least twice a year. Add new activities, refresh seasonal hours, swap in new photos. Google treats freshness as a ranking signal. A things to do page that hasn’t been touched in two years will slide. A quick update in November and again in March keeps it competitive through your booking seasons.
Start with one page, not ten
You don’t need a things to do page for every nearby town on day one. Start with the town closest to your operation, the one your customers are already searching. Build one thorough, useful page. Get it indexed. Get it ranking.
Once it’s pulling traffic, you’ll see it in your analytics: visitors land on the things to do page and click through to your trip pages. That’s the funnel working. Then you can expand to neighboring towns or create variations like “things to do in [town] with kids” or “things to do in [town] in winter.”
If you’re wondering what else to blog about beyond your trip pages, a things to do guide is one of the best places to start. It targets the highest-volume local query, makes you the area authority, and feeds directly into bookings. One page. Real local knowledge. Big upside.
